Driving Me Crazy

Chapter 9

Mateo sat on the couch biting his nails nervously. Taemin sat beside him with one hand on the boy's shoulder. Magdalena was reclined in her favorite chair with a look on her face that screamed, "Impress me."

"I don't know why you had to bring Taemin with you," Magdalena groused. "This is between you and me. Why do you think you need Taemin to protect you?"

"Because I do, Mom! God, you don't even know how many times you have steamrolled me because I was too afraid to stand up to you," Mateo exclaimed with a bravery in his voice that he didn't feel in the rest of his body.

Magdalena looked at Taemin. "My own son is afraid of me," she told Taemin with a quick wave of her hand toward Mateo. "Can you believe this shit?" she asked Taemin rhetorically.

Taemin stood to make himself taller than both of them. "Let's all just take a moment to calm down. I know you love Mateo, and you can't see why he would be afraid of you. But look at it from his side. I mean, you broke his freakin' door down. That's pretty scary stuff," he said to Magdalena. "I mean, you scare the Hell out of me sometimes," Taemin admitted.

"I see you two came to gang up on me," Magdalena complained. "You think I'm so scary, but I'm like one of those frilled lizards that spreads its neck flaps to look bigger in front of a predator. Inside, I'm scared to death, but I have to puff myself up to convince everyone around me not to piss with me," she admitted.

"What are you afraid of, Mom?" Mateo asked. "It's not like I would ever have the guts to raise a hand to you."

"I could handle that. I could still take you down, little boy," she replied. "What scares me is that you are shutting me out. We used to cuddle, and you would tell me everything that happened at school, or about a dream you had, or about a new story you were making up in your head. Now, you never speak to me in more than monosyllables. How am I supposed to know what's going on in that head of yours? I never know what you're thinking anymore," she said, almost plaintively.

"And God forbid that I would have my own thoughts that you know nothing about," Mateo replied dully.

"See?!" Magdalena said to Taemin. "Do you see the sass I have to put up with?" she complained.

Taemin turned to Mateo. "You know what I've found with my mom?" he asked, not waiting for a response. "When it comes to talking to my mom, tone is everything," he advised.

Mateo nodded slightly. "Mom, I love you. You know that. And you're right, we've always been close, but as I'm growing up, I'm finding that I need my own space. Maybe if you would let me be, I would come to you. I need you to stop pursuing me so much. Let me come to you," Mateo explained.

"Mi bebé se ha convertido en un hombrecito," Magdalena lamented that her baby was a young man now. She held out her arms to Mateo. He let her hold him as he rested his head against her bare shoulder.

"You'll always be my mom," he whispered in her ear, which caused Magdalena to break into tears.

"Lo siento, mi corazón," Magdalena said as she held her boy tighter. She could feel her walls crumbling. She felt, in her heart, that she really did mean her apology. She was sorry for making her son afraid of her, for making him have to stand up to her so fiercely. But on the other hand, she was proud of him that he was man enough to take her on. Maybe she hadn't done so badly in raising him after all.

Later, Magdalena stood in the kitchen, listening to Taemin and Mateo as they hung a new door on the hinges. She shredded the beef roast to make ropa vieja, Mateo's favorite dish of shredded beef, tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions.

"Here, Mateo, lift the door a little higher. I need to get it lined up with the hinges," Taemin instructed. Magdalena could hear the sound of manly grunting as they attempted to get the door on the hinges.

"Good, I think we got it," Taemin told Mateo. "Just tighten these screws and I think we'll be good," he added. Just then Magdalena peeked around the corner of the living room wall to see them. She watched as Mateo proudly swung the door open and closed. He and Taemin gave each other a high-five.

"I hate to break up this bro bonding, but I need someone to open this jar of olives," Magdalena said holding it toward Taemin. He took the jar and put all his force into it, but it wouldn't budge. "If opening a jar is a man's job and you can't do it...?" Magdalena teased.

"I'll get it," Taemin vowed, renewing his efforts to open the stubborn jar. Still, it didn't move. Mateo put out his hand to take the jar. Taemin shrugged and handed the jar over. Mateo turned it over and gave it a sharp hit with the heel of his hand. Then he turned it right-side-up and easily opened the cap.

"It's not always about working harder. It's working smarter," Mateo told Taemin with a cocky wink.

Taemin laughed good-naturedly. "It looks like you're a real man now," he told Mateo with a grin. "Every man has that moment when he has passed a rite of passage, and this is yours," Taemin said more seriously. He reached out his hand and shook Mateo's as a solemn impartation of manhood on him. Mateo took his hand and squeezed it as hard as he could.

"What's that for?" Taemin asked, laughing.

"That's just a reminder not to hurt my mom," Mateo replied, grinning broadly.

After dinner, Mateo went to his room with its brand-new door, and Magdalena and Taemin sat on the couch, drinking wine. Magdalena grabbed her thick curls and scrunched them in her fist. Then she shook them out and let them fall where they may. Taemin watched her entranced.

"Close your eyes," he whispered in her ear.

"What are you going to do?" Magdalena laughed nervously.

"I'm not going to do anything to hurt you," Taemin assured her. She closed her eyes slowly, determining that she would try to trust Taemin.

He picked up a piece of cheese from a plate on the table. He brushed it against her lips, and she let him place it gently on her tongue. She savored it slowly, finding that having her eyes closed made her other senses heightened. Taemin then held her glass of wine to her lips and poured a small amount into her mouth. A tiny drop of wine dripped out of the side of her mouth. Taemin licked it off the side of her mouth.

"Ay," Magdalena squealed. "I wasn't expecting that," she said as her eyes flew open.

"Close your eyes," Taemin instructed her again. He trailed his mouth along her bare shoulders, exposed by her pink halter top. He kissed her all down one arm and then the other. He took each fingertip in his hands and kissed each one slowly, lazily. He took her index finger into his mouth and sucked on it gently.

"Do you feel it yet?" he asked her, hoping that she would come to a place where she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

"Art thou feeling it now, Mr. Krabs?" she quipped, quoting SpongeBob in a deliberate attempt to break the sexual tension.

Taemin, determined not to be distracted, took her hand and kissed her palms and the insides of her wrists. Magdalena let out a short gasp.

"Tell me if you can feel anything," he whispered. He lay his head on her shoulder and breathed against her neck. He flicked her earlobe with his tongue. He plunged his fingers deep into her cloud of black curls and used his fingertips to massage her scalp and the base of her neck.

His face hovered close to hers. Their lips were almost touching when Taemin asked, "Do you feel it now?"

"I think I might be feeling something," she admitted.

"Good," Taemin replied. "You'll get there," he assured her.